The tropes we use in A Study in Aether
Cover art by @pinkpiggy93
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Our Tropes for “A Study in Aether” – image
Cover art by @pinkpiggy93
Cover art by @pinkpiggy93
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – JenEric Movie Review
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Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2026 film The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Story
The story was about the same level as the Super Mario Bros. video game and had significantly more plot threads that were not resolved.
Score: 0
Characters
The movie doesn’t slow down between set pieces and nostalgia to give anyone much development except Bowser, who then goes back to being a jerk. It would have been nice to have some sort of character bonding other than the one scene of Peach and Mario “not being angry”.
Both Peach and Rosalina suffer from the “Strong Female Character” syndrome where they are unbeatable unless the plot dictates they get captured.
Score: 0
Dialogue
There were some clever pieces of dialogue, a lot of call backs to the games, and some fun silliness.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The animation and easter eggs were wonderful. The space scenes were pretty and the character design was great.
The music was lovely and used lots of themes and sections from the games.
Score: 1
Fun
The kids loved it although even they had questions afterward about some plot points. The adults were less impressed but didn’t hate it.
I loved the nostalgia factor and I should be the prime audience for this, but it mostly left me meh. It wasn’t a good story and the characters were 8-bit.
Score: 0.5
Overall
A pretty animated film with enough nostalgia to keep you interested and some amazing music. Unfortunately, the story isn’t interesting and the characters are flat.
Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5
Violet
I wonder what Violet’s superhero name will be? Invisi-Girl has a nice ring to it, with a good callback to her mom’s original name.
The Gates of Westmeath isn’t dead
Hello Readers,
This summer, the first two books in The Gates of Westmeath will be going out of print and the rights are returning to us. Thankfully, River City Siren Press has agreed to re-release them and publish book 3 in Fall 2027!
The Gates of Westmeath books 1 and 2 are on sale through the All Lit Up store. (Enter RENPRESS20 at checkout)
Go buy some books!
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
Mother’s Day Reflections
Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;
I’ve been thinking a lot about life and growing up. It’s probably a side effect of editing my first book and dealing with the world’s most stubborn migraine.
This picture, or one just like it, showed up on the kitchen google and I suddenly felt very sad.
I love my children and I love who they are now and who they are growing up to be. There are times I see these pictures and I miss them being tiny. Life was, in many ways, simpler back then. If given the chance to go back and re-live that time, I wouldn’t want to. It wasn’t perfect and I certainly didn’t do everything right but it’s part of who we are. Given the chance to go back for a hug and snuggle from those little babies, I couldn’t say no.
I mourn every version of my children while celebrating who they are now. It doesn’t make sense but so little about parenting does.
Then this picture showed up and I felt almost the same feeling.
Again, I wouldn’t want to re-live that time but I wish I could go back for a hug and a good conversation with my mom. I wish I could be with her one more time. I wish I could tell her all about her amazing grandkids and everything Dan and I have accomplished in the past 18 years.
Then this wonderful picture showed up and I felt very different.
I love my wife. I loved her very early in our relationship and even through some rough patches, I have loved her for over twenty years. I can’t imagine my life without her. She’s my best friend, my writing partner, and a wonderful mother.
All that said, I have no interest in going back and interacting with a younger version of her. Everything she’s been through, everything she was, has made her into who she is and that’s who I love. All younger versions are shadows of who she is now and I’m overjoyed to have her now.
If you ask me in 5 years, I’ll say that that version of her is my favourite. We’re growing, learning, and living together and that is so special.
I guess If I have a point, it’s that you need to enjoy the people around you as they are now because they are going to grow and change. No one owes you stagnation and when people stop growing, you’ll miss them more than you can ever know.
With Mother’s Day this weekend:
Go hug your children, your mothers, and your wives! Tell them how much you love them because the only thing tomorrow promises is change.
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
A Study in Aether is now available!
Hello Readers!
If you like magical mysteries set in high school, with killer kitten swarms, carnivorous ball pits, and girl detectives, then A Study in Aether is for you!
A Study in Aether is out now!! YA urban fantasy mystery.
Cover Art by @pinkpiggy93
Published by River City Siren Press
Written by Éric Desmarais
https://www.jeneric-designs.ca/UBL-Aether
Cover art by @pinkpiggy93
Get it now!
Hoppers – JenEric Movie Review
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 2026 film Hoppers.
Story
The first three quarters of the movie felt a lot like an older environmental movie (Fern Gully etc.) but the last part added a lot to the message and was something I hadn’t seen before.
Score: 1
Characters
Everyone does a great job acting and the characters are good. I found the main character acted younger than her age and the maniacal Titus was a little on the nose.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
There’s a lot of great quotes and a lot of resonating messages. The kindness and love shown by George is wonderful and refreshing.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The animation is stunning and the use of the camera is excellent. I really appreciate the characters’ changes depending on who is perceiving them.
Score: 1
Fun
There are some laugh out loud moments and lots of good stuff in this movie. The kids loved it and so did the adults.
Score: 1
Overall
Another excellent story from Pixar that will make you laugh and cry in turn. The message of co-operation and seeing the best in people is deeply needed in today’s world.
Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5
Elasti-Girl
Elasti-girl’s original super suit! (And another Jack-Jack, this time looking like Edna herself!)
In my health, everything is connected
Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;
The past few months have been hard for me. I made a mistake with my migraine meds and then the new ones don’t seem to be doing anything.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my past and my health. It’s amazing how everything seems connected. The three big pillars are Migraines, Allergies, and Neurodivergence.
All three mean I have sensitivities to smells, foods, and nature but the big thing is that all three lead to burning out.
During university, I would catch a major cold every year and a whole bunch of little mysterious ones that lasted a day or two. The major ones were the regular flu, cold, etc. But the little ones I now see as my body/mind giving out.
University was hard and I wasn’t particularly good at it. I loved learning but I worked 3 jobs (30+ hours), did several clubs (Choir, Improv, and TV Zoom), and I had 4-5 classes. I also tried to be social and spend time with friends and family.
I see now that part of it was the exhaustion from masking, the fatigue from allergies, and the drain of migraines.
As I got older, I started noticing more effects like getting really fatigued and clumsy, pain from tensing my muscles, and my migraines getting less silent. (I assumed a massive headache per month wasn’t that bad.)
Now that I know what causes these things, I’m getting better at balancing my schedule and my needs. With unmasking and trying to be kind to myself comes less burnout and less symptoms. Unfortunately, it also comes with a lower tolerance for stimuli (Is it lower tolerance or me not being as good at shoving it all down until I collapse?)
I’m obviously still trying to get everything under control. I have a meeting with my doctor next week to discuss my migraine meds and possibly ADHD meds to try and make my life easier.
The great news is that work has finally approved my working from home. Because of my migraine and autism triggers being so hard to isolate, they decided it was simpler to let me be at home. Hopefully, we won’t need another full set of medical notes every year.
I hope you’re all doing well!
Stay safe and be kind,
Éric
2026 Aurora Awards Finalist
Shocking everyone, especially myself, I found out at the beginning of the month that Winging It had made the shortlist for the 2026 Aurora Awards!
The Best Young Adult Novel category has six finalists, meaning there was a tie, which is exciting! More books for you to read when the electronic package is released! I am incredibly honoured to be included alongside these other fantastic authors.
BEST YOUNG ADULT (YA) NOVEL (alphabetical by title)
Breath of the Dragon, Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee, Wednesday Books
Fireboy, Edward Willett, Shadowpaw Press
A Lion’s Head, D.M. De Alwis, Ahasae Tharu Publications
Minotaur, Jamieson Wolf, Rebel Satori Press
One Morning Sun, Avi Silver, Molewhale Press
Winging It, Jen Desmarais, Renaissance Press